Even the polar bears are acting grouchy in this cold!
TEMPERATURES -60's TO -70's BELOW ZERO (WIND CHILL FACTOR INCLUDED)
Would you believe that the termperatures here in Kotzebue, Alaska, are the same as the TOP OF MOUNT EVEREST at this time? I was shocked to find this out on a website for Mount Everest in the Himalayas.
http://www.mountain-forecast.com/peaks/Mount-Everest/forecasts/8850
The only difference is, WE ARE AT SEA LEVEL here on the coast in Kotzebue, Alaska! The top of Mount Everest is 29,037 feet high.
This, my friends, is truly KILLER COLD! Don't believe me?
Look at these photographs of those who died summiting Mount Everest. Their bodies stay perfectly preserved for years in the same kind of killer cold we now have here in Kotzebue, Alaska.
So intense is the cold, that frozen bodies can last for many years in a state on non-decomposition. Their dead bodies lie as mute testimony to the brutal cold and winds on Mount Everest. And how ruthless nature can be to all who run afoul of her often unpredictable whims and fury.
I was amazed to find that our temperatures were the same here as on the top of Mount Everest. People here in Kotzebue are forced to walk, because many of the vehicles simply cannot be started in these cold temperatures now. We have relatively few hours of daylight at this time. Pity the poor person who walks in the dark to the store, only to slip and fall, perhaps twist an ankle, who cannot get up without help...and no one can see them in the dark or hear them screaming for help. That person could easily die in a very short time in this kind of weather.
Sorry to shock you with these disturbing pictures! But I needed to make a graphic point about the kinds of deadly temps we are experiencing here in Kotzebue, Alaska. And thereby motivate you into praying for all of us here! My friend Lisa, who works as a nurse with the Inupiaq in Maniilaq medical facility, must WALK TO WORK in this cold: she has no vehicle and cannot afford a taxi to and from work. PRAY for her heart and her health to hold up in this bitter cold. Breathing in such cold air can actually cause a heart attack to occur. Not only that, but ANY exposed flesh WILL experience frostbite in less than 10 minutes outdoors. That means one's FACE as well.Thank you for your prayers.
PRAY FOR THE INUPIAQ IN THEIR VILLAGES!
http://www.thenewstribune.com/2012/01/15/1984613/harsh-alaska-winter-leads-to-fuel.html
There is a shortage of heating fuel for many in the outlying native villages here such as in KOBUK. People are becoming desperate in this life-threatening cold. Please pray for their safety, their needs for extra fuel at this critical time of extreme coldness here, and that God will help supply them with the heating fuel they need for their families at this time.
-Pamela Rae Schuffert reporting from Kotzebue, Alaska
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YES! its cold in Kotzebue. always has always will be. sometimes its colder then -70. the coldest months are december january. not all the villagers in the villages use heating fuel, most villages are surrounded by trees and use wood stoves.
ReplyDeleteBut I'd argue that deadlier than the cold is the high altitude and physiological stress it imposes. Lower oxygen intake, impossibility to digest, liqud in the lungs and brain swelling. These are the main hazards there
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